What is the fine for illegal dumping, a la “Alice’s Restaurant?”

Q: In the spirit of Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant,” what is the fine for illegal dumping?

A: The fine for illegal dumping, or littering, depends on how much is dumped.

In “Alice’s Restaurant,” they took a half-ton of garbage from the room downstairs where the pews used to be and hauled it in the back of a red VW microbus.

The dump was closed on Thanksgiving – same case is true today in Seattle – so the garbage was dumped off a 15-foot cliff onto another pile of garbage. One big pile is better than two little piles, right?

According to Washington law cited by the Department of Ecology, littering an amount greater than a cubic yard is a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to a $5,000 fine and or one year in jail. The person also has to pay a litter cleanup restitution fee equal to twice the actual cost of cleanup, or $100 per cubic foot of litter, whichever is greater. (Read more here.)

Seattle doesn’t have an Officer Obie – Philip Ocker is the closest name – and it’s not likely investigators would take 27 8×10 eight color glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one.

But Seattle Public Utilities does take illegal dumping seriously. People can report problems by calling (206) 684-7587. An online report form and more information is available here.

The best detail about laws regarding illegal dumping is available here from the state Department of Ecology.

And here’s some Arlo to watch while the turkey is cooking. Happy Thanksgiving.

Thanks to the people who submitted questions. Previous answers are linked below.